Probably would’ve liked to see more from Jack offensively with the big guys out, but he’s simply not a good focal point offensively anymore. He’s all about knocking down open 3s. 6 assists is nice, though.

Tiago had the opportunity tonight to go back to the way he was playing when Manu Ginobili was absent from the Spurs’ second unit. Then, they relied on Splitter to create in the post. That’s what he did tonight. And it was good. More boards would’ve been nice, though.

2 points in 29 anonymous minutes. At this point, how high of a second round pick could the Spurs trade James for this summer? In the 40s?

Cory Joseph, G24 MIN | 2-6 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 9 PTS | +5

Looked comfortable out there. His time in Austin is serving him well.

Three Things We Saw

The quest for 50 wins is still alive.

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were all out. Coach Pop had a personal matter to attend to and wasn’t at the game as well. The Spurs still scored 110 points.

I’m intrigued by how good of a defender Cory Joseph can be when he learns how to defend NBA players. He could be an Avery Bradley type, not that good, but that type.

Full disclosure: I fell asleep for a few minutes at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Getting older sucks.

Hobson13

Splitter and Mills were beasts, but Diaw is really going to have to take more shots on the offensive end to be taken seriously. I love great passers, but he has a serious tendency to over-pass. This was a good (but not great) win for the Spurs. Although our Big 3 were out, the Suns really seemed disspirited after their loss at Utah. I’m not saying they didn’t try, but they certainly seemed resigned to go fishing.

This Utah series is going to be tough. Glad we are giving Splitter, Diaw, and Blair some more run. Our front line will need to be good in order for us to end this upcoming series ASAP.

Jake

So Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli will not even be at the warriors game? First Spurs game I go to and they wont even be there. Very disappointing.

junierizzle

I liked the effort from the team tonite. They could have just gone through the motions and let the Suns give Nash one last victory.

I think Diaw is just waiting for the playoffs. I still think he will win us one game. He’ll go off and have a big game.

Splitter looked great out there. I loved the fade away shot over Gortat.

mac

Does the 48MoH server have a virus or something???

Nima K.

I use google chrome and Kaspersky on 2 different computers. Both my PCs won’t let me access 48MOH. They think the website has a virus or something.

Rubadub

Not happy the big three resting now!! Last year they rested and they looked sluggish getting there groove back. Rhythm is what they need now not rest

Bob

I think if TD, Splitter and Diaw absorb most of the big man minutes we will be OK.

Tim in Surrey

Welcome to Derrick Byars! For those who don’t know, Derrick is a former SEC Player of the Year at Vanderbilt (my alma mater) where he led them to the Sweet Sixteen–and really what should’ve been the Elite Eight, if not for one of the most spectacular blown traveling calls in NCAA history, on Jeff Green–back in 2007. If you wonder whether he’s any good, just ask Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, and Al Horford. I believe they remember him well. Derrick’s a very similar kind of player to Danny Green–long, tough, versatile, and mentally solid but doesn’t do any one spectacular thing. I’ve been waiting for quite a while for a smart team to give him a chance and even wrote R.C. to urge him to sign Derrick last year. Sadly I don’t think my recommendation made the difference, but I’m happy with the result nonetheless. I hope he sticks around a while.

Fra

Fitting that if this was Nash’s last game for Phoenix it was a defeat to the Spurs

http://www.48minutesofhell.com Bry

Solid win. I’m not too happy about all three players suddenly being sent back to SA and not even dressing or traveling with the team. Mills is a gunner. I really hope they can take down GS tonight and roll into the playoffs hot with a long streak and 50 wins. It sucks that the Spurs route to the Finals, if they made it, could be through three brutal front-courts; Utah, then Memphis, then the Lakers. All three of those teams, however, have very inferior perimeter players. What is up with the site? Why does it keep sending out virus messages, and why has the interface changed so that we can’t respond to individual comments. Is this temporary?

Chris

Definitely see the Austin experience showing thru Joseph’s play. He’s playing smarter, more in the system, for sure.

I still question, however, what natural tools he has that motivated the Spurs to take him in the 1st round? Everything he does is so…generic. He’s not particularly fast, is an average shooter, and doesn’t have much size. Ok, so he moves his feet pretty nimbly…forgive me if I’m not jumping out of my seat there.

Sorry, guys, but at this point I really think the Spurs FO swung-and-missed on this draft pick.

Anybody care to comment?

http://www.48minutesofhell.com Andrew A. McNeill

@Chris

I think, when you’re talking about someone who should be a sophomore in college, you’ve got to give it more time to see how he’s going to develop. I think it’s way too soon to be grading this pick.

Kev

@Chris – I understand where you’re coming from, and I’m inclined to agree. Though Andrew has made a point in “giving it time”, I feel unless you make SIGNIFICANT strides after the first year, you’re doomed to benchwarm unless an injury takes hold of your squad, or you get traded. He hasn’t shown me, or the Spurs that he’s capable of stealing minutes from Mills (who we just acquired), and is relegated to garbage time. I think this speaks volumes for his ability…or lack thereof.

Chris

Ok, he’s young, I get it. But something had to catch the Spurs eyes, no?? My point is, nothing about him jumps out at me as, “yeah, he’s got something real potential there, even if it is raw at the moment.” Is his IQ through the roof, or something? He certainly seems positive/eager/coachable, which is good.

Wouldn’t he have been there in the 2nd round, where most “projects” are taken?

Rob

@Chris — Who would the Spurs have taken if not Joseph? Have you looked at the other players they could have selected? There are a lot of no names. The only player that in hindsight would have been a better pick would be Isaiah Thomas who went 30th in the 2nd round. There is not a lot of room to criticize the front office when this was obviously a weak draft to begin with.

http://www.48minutesofhell.com Andrew A. McNeill

@mac and Nima K.

We should have resolved the virus issues this weekend. Varner just did a check and it says we’re clear. You might need to clear you cache, and then it’ll be all good for you.

3 of the 16 playoff teams have finished their season: Pacers, Thunder, and Clippers. Their series should start Saturday. If Grizzlies win tonight at home, they are the 4th seed and the 5th seed Clippers can immediately fly to Memphis. If the Grizzlies lose, they are already at home and can fly west to Los Angeles early Friday. This game–and 10 other season-ending contests–all start at 8pm eastern time–including the Blazers-Jazz (6pm local time).
1st round playoff hosts Bulls and Hawks play their season finale at home, so there are two other series that can start Saturday.
Playoff hosts Spurs and Lakers have road finales on the west coast.
I put all of this out there to show that no way the league office should have the Spurs start their 1st round series on a Saturday, espically having to end the season playing 4 games in 5 nights- a home and road back-to-back.
And–did anyone else notice that after thier defeat in San Antonio last Friday, the Lakers only had 2 games during this last week- with 3 days in between?

DorieStreet

Excuse my typos-opening sentence phrase should have been ‘San Antonio’ (without ‘the’)and ‘especially'; plus ‘their’ in the last sentence.